After a dramatic week for the Prince George’s County Board of Education’s swearing-in of new members, initially scheduled for Dec. 2 at 5 p.m., was delayed, there’s officially a chair and vice chair of the educational governing body. The delay occurred after a new member filed an injunction with the Circuit Court.
While the annual meeting to elect the board chair and vice chair was still scheduled for 5:30 p.m. in Upper Marlboro on Dec. 2, the election was moved to Dec. 5 following a unanimous vote of the current Board.
Branndon Jackson (District 6) was elected to serve as chair and Jonathan Briggs (District 2) was elected to serve as the vice chair.
Zakyia Goins-McCants did not attend the meeting, as her narrow 13-vote win appears to be headed to a recount initiated by her competitor, Angela Jones.
Happenings on Dec. 2
The injunction filed on Dec. 2 initially halted the Board of Education’s proceedings
“The injunction we filed is to stop the election during the annual meeting, which would select the chair and vice chair,” a source close to the matter told The Informer on the condition of anonymity earlier in the day.
Then chair Lolita Walker (District 9), kicked off the Dec. 2 meeting at 5:34 p.m.
“New members were unable to be sworn in as of today, as the Board of Elections was unable to release the commissions in time for today’s scheduled oath of ceremony,” she said.
The board chair explained the laws necessitating the selection of new leadership on that date.
Walker insisted multiple times that holding the meeting was necessary to follow state laws, which require the selection of a new chair and vice chair on the first Monday in December following an election.
The law also states that a board member is not eligible to serve until qualified by the Board of Elections, leading Adams-Stafford to ask if “qualified” and “certified” are meaningfully different legal terms.
Shayla Adams-Stafford (District 4) requested to table the meeting until the new members were sworn in and her motion was seconded. However, parliamentarian Daisy W. Matthews cited this motion as out of order as this was not deemed an emergency and a quorum was present for the meeting.
The District 4 board member pushed back.
“We have people that have been elected that should have the opportunity to vote for the chair and the vice chair to bring forward initiatives, ideas, and represent the desires of the communities that elected them,” said Adams-Stafford. “I will be voting to postpone this, to allow our new members the opportunity to vote for their leadership. I hope my colleagues will as well.”
Legal counsel Bradley Farrar noted that the meeting structure could be altered, and a compromise was met to hold the selection on Thursday, Dec. 5, leading into a previously scheduled meeting. Then, the board unanimously voted to move the meeting and close the business of the day.
If the newly elected members were not certified before the 5 p.m. Dec. 5 gathering concluded, the board would have had to cancel the following 7 p.m. business meeting.
Certifying the Election, the Vacant Seat
While Tiffani Andorful (District 1) and Robin Brown (District 5) maintained relatively large leads against their opponents during the vote tallying process and Adams-Stafford (District 4) ran unopposed, two other races were much narrower.
Goins-McCants defeated Jones by 13 votes according to the current unofficial numbers: well within the threshold to have the State Board of Elections cover the cost of a recount. Jones is currently planning a recount.
Phelton Moss defeated incumbent Kenneth Harris II in District 7 by over 2,000 votes, a margin that increased as more voters were counted.
To watch the meeting in full, click here.
